Earthly Possessions
by euphonic
Summary: 5 years after season 3, Sydney discovers that she has a daughter with Sark. She and Sark try to protect their daughter, but she is kidnapped by a terrorist organisation the Association. It is later discovered that Vaughn is her kidnapper. (SSa, SV)
1. The Kiss

**Earthly Possessions**

Written by euphonic, aka Jasmine

Characters belong to JJ Abrams, Bad Robot Productions and ABC Network. Everything else is mine.

This story is originally written with an NC-17 rating. Due to restraints posed by ff.net I have edited this story to give it a maximum rating of R.

Please email me (you can find my email in my profile under my MSN identity, just take out the space between and hotmail) if you would like to read the original, NC-17 version. You can also try to find it on the SD-1 boards. It's in the NC-17 section, but it's probably just easier to email me and I'll link you to all the threads.

In case you're curious, this story is both Sarkney and S/V. Both shippers, have faith ;)

It's also a full-cast, Rambaldi-oriented, at times AU (because it's set it in the future) fic.

Enjoy!

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**Earthly Posessions: The Kiss**

Sydney's breath shook as she walked across the large, lively ballroom. People walked past her, but she was barely aware of their presence. She kept walking towards those eyes, each time she was one step closer to her purpose.

He stared at her, his eyes never leaving hers. His vision cut across the countless boundaries of the room; Vaughn's eyes penetrating hers. Sydney wrapped her arms around him and looked deeply into his eyes, standing still as he penetrated every inch of her with his gaze.

No words were spoken, but they knew exactly what the other wanted. Taking her hand, she nodded, and moved with him until they entered their room. She walked inside and stood in the middle of the room, watching as he closed the door and joined her.

They looked at each other again, and although it was only for a split second it felt as if all time had stood still. She could feel the longing in his eyes and he could sense the hunger in hers.

She leaned close to him, her lips so close to his that she could feel the warmth penetrating from them. Vaughn wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her close. He told her he loved her and she shivered as she felt his breath vibrate on her lips. He brushed his lips across hers, softly caressing, softly teasing.

She smiled and he started kissing her smile, at first kissing the edges of her mouth, nearing towards the plump middle… she sighed and bit his bottom lip gently, not wanting to hurt him, but desperately wanting to give in to yearning.

He squeezed his hands on her hips, and as her lungs took in air he grabbed her and kissed her hungrily. His silky tongue swept across hers and she felt like she was loosing control of her knees… she leaned into him and he held her close, protecting her from the outside world… her tongue played against his own, massaging it, loving it, _feeling_ it.

Her tongue swiftly made its way across the velvety confines of his mouth, exploring his depths. He tasted so sweet and she yearned to be surrounded with this taste, this feeling. His mouth was so warm and she felt safe in his arms. Her tongue continued its discovery of his mouth, and she moaned into him as she felt his hands rub against her sides. She felt his hands inching up towards her face, caressing her.

Cupping her face in his hands he pulled away from her kisses and looked into her eyes again. He kissed her hair and smiled at her.

"I love you so much, Syd."

Sydney smiled up at him and rested her head against his shoulder. His hands made their way to the small of her back, gently rubbing and massaging her smooth skin.

"I love you too." She kisses his neck softly and started playing with the buttons on his shirt.

"Syd, before we do anything I just wanted you to know that I… I appreciate you, every piece of you, every moment with you." He squeezed her back gently as he pushed her onto the bed.

Before she had a chance to reply he kissed a trail across her cheeks, moving up to her forehead and down her nose. He kissed the tip of her nose again, pausing as he reached her lips. He kissed her chin, his lips brushing across her face until they were biting down on her bottom lip, sucking it.

She felt a moan escape from her lips as he moved his attention to her ears, sucking on her ear lobes, his hands caressing every part of her body, pressing into her, rubbing her, massaging her soft skin with his own. He nibbled softly on her neck, moving towards the nape, driving her into a senseless state where all she was aware of was his kisses.

She wrapped her legs around his waist and rolled over on the bed, leaning across him so that she was the one pressing into him. She smiled down on him as she removed his shirt and planted tender kisses from his belly button to his neck. She tilted his neck and began nibbling on his Adam's apple, feeling him moan into her, feeling his body shudder underneath her. Her lips pressed urgently against his soft skin, feeling her own moans escape from her lips… she had waited so long, so patiently, to be back in his arms, to feel safe and protected again.

"Syd? Syd?"

Instantly she turned around and saw a sudden light.

She rubbed her eyes and moaned in aggravation. Yawning, she opened her eyes and saw Vaughn sitting in front of her on the plane.

"Weiss wanted me to tell you we've got a half hour until we land." He looked at her, watching as Sydney sat up straight in her seat and played with her hair. "Are you okay? Looked like you had a nice sleep."

"Oh? Yeah… yeah I did. All this jet-lag…"

"Are you sure you're okay? Because you need to give this job all you've got. Now, if you feel that you're not ready for this mis– "

"–Vaughn, I said I'm okay," she grumbled, cutting him off. She looked at the clouds outside the window.

"I don't mean to be so hard on you… but you know what this job means to me." He leaned over in his seat and took her hands in his. "Look, I appreciate you, Syd."

She looked up into his eyes and he looked deep into hers. She could almost imagine him saying how he appreciated every inch of her, every part of her, every memory of her. She wanted forever to be lost in this moment, this feeling.


	2. The Mission

**Earthly Posessions: The Mission**

Five Hours Earlier 

Sydney walked into the conference room, her father right behind her. Dixon was reading from a file, his wrinkles exaggerated from worry. Marshall was fiddling with his watch and muttering under his breath something about the equator and day light savings.

Sydney sat down next to her father, who took her hand in his and squeezed it lightly. She heard something behind her and turned to see Weiss and Vaughn walk in together, their faces red from laughing so hard at what she assumed was a joke. She looked up at Weiss, as if to say 'what's so funny?' but before she had a chance to find out he looked down, as if he was a five-year-old caught red-handed stealing from a cookie jar.

Sydney's hands circled the coffee cup in front of her. They had all been contacted half an hour earlier, at four in the morning, and told that they had an urgent meeting. Although Sydney was a patriot she couldn't think of anything that could be so important so as to wake her up at that hour.

She picked up a spoon that was lying on a serviette and slowly circled it around the frothing of her coffee, watching the liquid consume the milk. She often felt like that, her job, slowly driving her crazy, depriving her of all that she loved – her friends, her family, whatever shreds of normality she had displayed before. Pretty soon, she figured, there wouldn't be any more Sydney left, just the job.

Dixon stood up from his chair and addressed them.

"I'm assuming you all know why you're here. The CIA has just gotten a lead that could possibly bring us one of the front-runners of the Association."

Sydney sat up in her chair. The Association was an organisation that the CIA had only recently learned about. It consisted of rogue agents from a number of different groups not unlike the Covenant or the Alliance. The problem with the Association though was its fluidity – it appeared that rogue agents were only loyal to the Association until their endgame was achieved.

The one thing that made the Association stand out from all the other organisations was the fact that it didn't appear to have a head. It was this monster with long extending arms that could be interchanged at any given moment; you could cut off one arm only to discover ten more in its place, and there was no head to cut off to prevent those arms from coming back.

Dixon cleared his throat. "It has come to our attention that the Association has one small group in charge of recruiting rogue agents. Our analysts have concluded that we have to bring the Association down from the outside, by stopping recruitment."

"Who's this frontrunner?" Jack looked at Dixon intently, measuring every word.

Dixon handed out copies of a file around the room. "Stanley Babcock."

"Who? Sir, in all the intel we've come across… we've never heard that name before." Weiss looked up from the file. "Do you have any pictures?"

Dixon looked down at his desk. "No, we haven't been able to receive visual intel–"

A choking noise resonated across the room. Dixon instantly stopped talking and turned to Marshall, who was attempting to swallow a large bite of his doughnut. Weiss leaped out of his chair and tapped on Marshall's back. The offending doughnut flew out of Marshall's mouth, making a perfect arc as it landed in front of Jack, thudding softly.

Jack pushed his chair back and looked angrily at the doughnut. Marshall smiled at Jack and mouthed the word 'sorry'. Jack nodded but continued to look at the doughnut, as if wanting to assassinate it.

Dixon spoke. "As I was saying, we haven't received much intel on him. We do know, however, that he goes by the alias Jamal Yassin."

Sydney stopped taking notes. "What's the mission?"

"One of the rogue agents close to Yassin is ready for extraction. Your mission is to go with Agents Vaughn and Weiss to extract Agent Maddox. The CIA also needs you to plant a bug in one of their offices." Dixon handed out the file of Agent Maddox and motioned for Marshall to brief Sydney on op-tech.

Marshall stepped up, straightened his tie and handed out a box of doughnuts across the room. "First off, I, uh, wanted to apo-apologise to you, Ja-ack, for the Krispy Kreme, it's, uh, too early, in the mo-morning." The box of doughnuts made its way to Jack. "Uh, want a do-doughnut? Peace?"

Taking his index finger, Jack pushed the box of doughnuts in one smooth, quick motion towards Dixon. "No thank you, Marshall."

Marshall looked temporarily disappointed. "oh, that's o-okay, then, all the mo-ore for me."

"Marshall!" Dixon was beginning to get annoyed.

"Yes sir… now, what you see here…" Marshall picked up a pen. "Is a bug. If you can, Syd, just place it anywhere in the office. The bug is built into the biro so we can tell exactly what's being written with it and…" Marshall picked up a piece of paper and began to draw a picture of a duck. "It's a lovely shade of blue. I was going to put in black ink, but, you know, standard-issue CIA pens are black ink and it just seems a bit too… stern for me, if you know what I mean."

Marshall looked around the room, waiting for his colleagues to nod in agreement. No one said anything. "Okay, well, the other nifty thing here is that this pen takes pictures every five seconds and transmits them to this office without needing upload through the Association's networks."

Dixon turned to look at Sydney. "We don't know how much cooperation you'll have with Agent Maddox, Syd, so Marshall has arranged for some non-lethal weapons."

Sydney nodded. Weiss and Vaughn left the room first. Marshall grabbed the last doughnut before Dixon had a chance. Jack, still staring at the piece of doughnut on his desk, got up and walked out with Sydney. As soon as they got out of the room he took her aside and turned on his pen, which was an anti-eavesdropping device.

"Sydney, I don't know if you know about Agent Maddox, Dixon hasn't received all the intel… your mother thinks it could be dangerous."

Sydney stared at him in disbelief. "Dad? What are you talking about? It's just an extraction."

Jack put took his daughter's hand in his and held it close. "Sydney, I know you haven't been on speaking terms with your mother but it's important that you stay focused on this job, okay? Don't let the details get in the way of your endgame."

Sydney smiled. "I won't Dad. You know how important it is to me…" Then, realising that Jack was trying to say something important, she looked up at him. "What details exactly? Dad? Who is Agent Maddox?"

Sydney's father was about to speak when his pen began to beep. He smiled at her. "Yes well, I'll have a look at those files for you," he said in his CIA-tone.

- - -

Sydney looked grumpily at Vaughn, still dreaming of their kiss. She got up from her seat on the plane and made her way to the bathroom, where she put on long skin-tone pantyhose, followed by a short leopard-print miniskirt. She grabbed a black fitted top and put it on. As she was placing her short red wig in place Vaughn walked in.

She winked at him and massaged her long lean legs, slowly dipping them into big black boots. Vaughn watched her, enraptured.

"See something you like?"

Vaughn was about to walk towards Sydney when Weiss walked in on them.

"We've landed."

- - - 

Sydney walked into a huge building bustling with people dressed in business suits. She made her way to an empty elevator. As the elevator doors were closing she noticed an old man winking at her. Shuddering and muttering to herself about perverts she pressed the number "13".

"Everything okay freelancer?" She heard Vaughn say.

"I'm fine."

"You're going to room 95. You'll tell Agent Maddox that you're from accounting. He'll say ask if you are here to clear up the anomaly."

"Copy that," Sydney said, making her way to room 95.

She opened the door but she wasn't prepared for what was inside. It was a beautiful decorated room, with a sprawling wooden desk and bookcases filled with books. The marble flooring looked spectacular against a plush Persian rug. Typing furiously behind a computer was a blonde man.

"Mr Maddox? I'm from accounting," Sydney said in her British accent.

The man peeked out from behind the computer and stared into Sydney's eyes.

"I've been expecting you, Sydney. Here to clear up the anomaly?"

"Boy scout I'm gonna have to go on radio silent," Sydney spoke into her transmitter. She didn't move from her place. Instead, she watched as the man got up from behind the computer and walk up to her with open arms.

"Sark."

"Come on Sydney, you shouldn't look so surprised. You know it's always such a pleasure to see you." Sark planted a soft peck on her cheek.

"I have to take you back. For my superiors," she said, extracting from her pocket a small lipstick.

Sark quickly unbuttoned his shirt and looked at Sydney as she pushed against the base of the lipstick. A tranquillizer dart shot out and landed squarely on Sark's shoulder.

"I'm going to enjoy being tortured by you," she heard Sark say as he lost consciousness.

She blew him a kiss.


	3. The Interrogation

**Earthly Posessions: The Interrogation**

Sydney watched as Sark sat perfectly still in his seat. She was watching through a camera positioned in interrogation room four. Dixon was standing next to her, tense with frustration. For the past hour they had attempted to get Sark to talk, but he said he would only talk to Sydney.

She felt a lump form in her throat as Vaughn walked in with Gahel. Vaughn sat on a chair directly in front of Sark and Gahel walked to the corner of the room, slowly arranging the various torture devices he knew so well.

"Michael, what a pleasure. Unfortunately, I'd rather not share your company. I will talk only to Agent Bristow."

Dixon adjusted the volume so that he and Sydney were surrounded by Sark's voice. Turning to Sydney, Dixon looked at her. Sydney, feeling self-conscious, turned away. Finally Dixon spoke.

"I want you to go in there and reason with him." He watched her carefully as she tucked her hair behind her ear, watching Vaughn through the monitor. "I realise it will awkward, Sydney, but he has answers."

Sydney continued to watch as Vaughn gestured for Gahel to approach Sark. Sark smiled at Gahel, as if to say that he didn't care. Gahel took Sark's arm and in one swift movement plunged a syringe inside. Sark's face twisted in pain, his face became red. He looked up at the camera, knowing that Sydney was watching him from the other end. He began to mouth her name when Gahel stabbed Sark's arm with another syringe.

"STOP!" Sydney yelled at the monitor. She turned to Dixon. "I'm going in."

- - -  

Sydney walked through the dark hall towards the interrogation room. Gahel and Vaughn were walking towards her, away from the room. Gahel nodded politely at her as he passed her. Vaughn reached out to take her arm, to comfort her, but she glared at him and looked ahead, reminding herself not to look behind her.

She stepped into the interrogation room and sat in the chair in front of Sark.

"Sydney," he said, looking up at with a look of hope in his eyes.

"This is how it's going to be." She reached into her bag and slammed on the table a bottle of Sark's favourite wine, 1982 Chateau Petrus. She uncorked it and placed it firmly in front of Sark.

"Do you work for the Association?"

Sark looked up from the bottle towards Sydney. "No."

"Then what were you doing there?"

"I knew you'd come visit." Sark looked at the bottle again. "May I please have a glass?"

"I don't have time for games," Sydney told him. She took the bottle and thrust it into his mouth. "Suck it up."

Sark started coughing. Sydney pulled the bottle away and looked at him with concern.

"I didn't kill Maddox, if that's what your superiors want to know."

"Where is he?"

"Havana."

"Did you take him there?"

"No."

"Have you done business with Yassin?"

"No."

Sydney took a deep breath and, in an attempt to appear as a good-cop, smiled at him. "You and I both know your loyalties are… fleeting, at best."

Sark snickered and put his hand on the desk, towards Sydney. She looked down at his soft, pale white hands. The handcuffs were digging into his skin, leaving behind red marks, almost like welts. She reached out and put her hand in his, tracing the lines on his right hand with her index finger.

Sark watched as Sydney's fingers softly caressed his hand. He looked up at her, staring deep into her eyes. "Yassin is in Havana. It was a set-up."

"Why should I believe you?"

"Do you remember Adana? Remember what we spoke about in Turkey?" He shifted his weight on the seat. "You have no reason not to believe me."

Sydney watched as his lips twitched. She couldn't believe he had reminded her of Adana. She looked up at the camera, remembering that the conversation was being recorded. She unclasped her hands from his and stood up. She leaned across the table, her face inches away from his. "There is nothing you can say that will earn my trust," she told him. "Especially after Adana."

She walked out of the room and shut the door behind her. She was about to turn and walk back to see Dixon when Vaughn grabbed her arm.

"Vaughn? Wha–"

"I heard what he said. Look, Syd, about that…"

"I have nothing to say to you." Sydney yanked her arm free of Vaughn's grasp and walked purposely away from him.

He ran up to her, stopping her. "We need to talk. You can't keep avoiding me."

"Really? There is nothing I would rather do."

"Stop it, okay? You're not a girl. You have a problem with me, I know, but we have to deal with it. You can't keep me at arm's distance."

"Oh, I'm acting like a girl?" Tears began to well up in her eyes.

Vaughn pulled Sydney close and held her tight. "I know it's hard."

"You have the most amazing ability," Sydney told him, pulling away from his grasp, "to make someone, who through… absolutely no fault of their own," her voice was beginning to crack, "feel like the whole world is their mistake."

"Syd… you don't have to be afraid anymore. Lauren is… gone. She's been gone for almost a year."

"Don't do that!" She said forcefully, looking up at him behind watery eyes. "You're right. We do need to talk about it."

Vaughn reached out to hold her again but Sydney pushed him away. "I can't say this any other way because you it just doesn't get through. I loved you. I [I]loved[/I] you." She took a deep breath and looked deep into his dark brown eyes. "But don't think for one second that I'm going back to you. I don't care how long she's been gone, that was never the point."

Vaughn stared at her, not fully understanding what Sydney was trying to say. He opened his mouth to speak but she wasn't interested in the words he had to say. It was never about words.

"Vaughn, I am not your consolation prize."

Sydney began to walk quickly away from him, knowing that he was standing in the same position, at the same spot, watching her walk away from him. Tears began to run down her cheeks and she wiped them away. The hall was so long and she felt so stupid, having to do the long walk away from him. She was embarrassed, and began to run down the hall. Oh, how she wished the ground would swallow her up so she wouldn't have to face him anymore.

She wanted nothing more than to hold him close, to kiss those soft, supple lips of his and hear him tell her that everything was perfectly fine, that he loved her, that he would protect her from the world, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She often wondered, when Vaughn looked at her, if he was looking at her as if she was the One for him, or if she was the only one he could turn to.

- - -

Four Days Later 

Sydney sighed in frustration. She never could cook bolognese properly. She turned to spice rack, her eyes circling over the various herbs and spices, wondering which one she could use to prevent further damage of her sauce. Her doorbell rang then, and quickly turning the stove off she ran to the door, thinking it would be Weiss, Marshall and Carrie.

She opened the door and was surprised to see a man from Fed-Ex standing there.

"Delivery package for a Sydney Bristow?"

Sydney smiled at the man. "Yes, I'm Sydney Bristow."

"Sign here", he told her. Once she did he handed her a small package. She took into her hands, thanked him and closed the door.

The handwriting on the package was unmistakable. It was Sark's. She carefully opened the package. There was something soft wrapped with tissue paper. Cautiously she pulled the tissue paper away from the object. Her mouth opened wide in a moment of fierce realisation; her hand automatically went to her mouth, covering it. Her hand started shaking as she realised Sark's reluctance to talk. Her eyes began to water and all thoughts of Vaughn immediately disappeared.

She traced the object in her hands, smiling at it, feeling the happiest she'd been in a while. Her forehead was slightly wrinkled, creased for all the confusion as to the past year. She heard the doorbell ring again, and this time she knew it was her colleagues.

She hid the package behind inside a cupboard, but couldn't bring herself to look away from it. She heard the doorbell ring again and this time she managed to let her gaze wonder away from the white, child-sized satin ballerina shoes.


	4. The Confession

**Earthly Posessions: The Confession**

_20 Months Earlier…_

Sark held the door open for Sydney and gestured for her to walk inside a small house in Adana. She looked at him hesitantly. It was cold outside and even though the fog had started to subside she could still feel the chill of the morning. She snuggled herself further into her jacket and felt the smell of freshly brewed coffee make its way towards her. The house looked so warm, and Sark seemed so inviting… but she was on a mission, she reminded herself, and she couldn't let her guard down, not even for a minute.

Earlier that week Sark had contacted her and told her that there was something during her missing two years that happened, something that she wasn't fully aware of; something that she had to know about. He told her he had been battling with his conscience, but Sydney wasn't sure if it was this was part of his endgame.

Cautiously, she stepped inside the brightly lit house.

"Please have a seat," Sark told her, closing the door behind him and jumping on one of the cream coloured sofas.

She took a seat and looked around at her surroundings. She saw a large crystal vase, she guessed it must've been 24% lead crystal from the way the rays of light reflected a thousand rainbows. She pretended to settle down in her seat, making sure that the vase was closer to her. It could make for a useful weapon against Sark.

"Would you like some coffee?" Sark got up from his seat and headed towards the kitchen.

"No thanks," she told him as he walked into the kitchen.

He made his way back to the living room, holding a mug in his hand. He sat next to Sydney and turned to look at her. "Were you followed to the airport?"

Sydney had seen Vaughn at the office before she went on her trip to Turkey, but ever since Lauren he seemed to forget about Sydney. She doubted it even occurred to him to follow her.

"Yes, but I got rid of them," she told Sark.

He smiled and sipped on his coffee. "You're a clever girl, Sydney."

Sydney sighed and looked out the window. Trees were swaying softly in the wind and a bird was chirping far away, she could barely hear it. "What do you want, Sark? You told me to come half way around the world, make sure I'm not followed, and for what? To have coffee?"

A look of sadness spread across his face. "I've done a lot of things lately which are… questionable."

Sydney stared at him, unblinking.

"Remember Patagonia? Remember how you torched the place?"

Sydney looked away from him. She couldn't stand to see his face, everything about him reminded her of the Covenant, of what they must have done to her, of how they destroyed her life. Two years of her life that she could never get back, two years of joy and happiness and self-knowledge. Even now, as she tried to move on with her life, her friends and family had to remind her of those inexplicable years, as if that missing period in time was what defined her.

"Sydney… you were a little late. They uh… the covenant," Sark said, straightening himself up, "told me to keep quiet, I had to, or they'd kill me. But I can't stay quiet any more, Sydney, it's too much."

Sydney continued to stare at him.

"Please say something," Sark told her, his hand moving toward her cheek.

Sydney grabbed his hand and pushed it back towards his body. Coffee splattered across his body and he sat up straight, moaning in pain. "Don't you dare touch me," she growled, staring him down.

Sark stood up and proceeded to take off his shirt, where a large coffee stain was starting to slowly seep into his skin. "Sydney, I… I just wanted to show you…" Not bothering to finish the sentence, he walked out of the room and came back with a child, no more than 18 months old, who was sleeping soundly in a stroller. "Syd this is… she's yours."

Sydney stared at the little girl, not knowing whether or not to believe him. She couldn't, this was insane. "I don't understand."

"She's yours." Sark put the brakes on the stroller and scooped the girl up into his arms. "Here, hold her."

"No."

"Just for a minute."

Sydney reluctantly picked up the young girl. Staring into her face she realised that she had the same pouty lips, the same forehead that she did. Sydney still wasn't sure if Sark was telling her the truth, she would have to take a DNA test.

Sark grabbed a pair of scissors and, as if reading her mind, carefully snipped a small lock of hair from the girl's head. Sydney watched as he bagged it into a small zip-lock bag and placed it on the coffee table. "For a DNA test," he told her.

"Who's the father?"

"I think it would be best if you sit down."

Sydney felt a lump form in her throat. She just couldn't accept what Sark was about to say and yet she knew it would be the only viable explanation.

Sark sat down next to Sydney, slowly stroking the girl's hair. "Her name is Adana," he told her. "She was born here, so I named her after this place."

"You named her?" Sydney asked, bracing herself for the inevitable.

"She's ours."


	5. The Escape

**Earthly Posessions: The Escape**

18 Months Earlier 

Sydney rang the doorbell of the small house she shared with Sark in Turkey. She heard some voices inside and she wondered what was happening. Sark's voice was unmistakable. A few months ago she would have shuddered when she first heard it, knowing that she would have to defend herself, but things had changed.

They had a child together. Although Adana was known to the Covenant they had let Sark's nanny take care of her. The Covenant, at the time, had felt sure that Sydney and the CIA were unaware of Adana.

Sydney knew that if the CIA hadn't been working so hard on bringing down the Covenant they would be keeping tabs on Adana, but as it stood the Covenant trusted Sark and never thought that he would betray them. 800 million dollars was enough to buy Sark.

Sydney heard Adana scream in excitement from inside, and Sydney smiled, knowing how much Adana looked forward to Sydney's visits. The door opened and Sark stood in the doorway, smiling sheepishly at Sydney as Adana hid behind his legs.

Sydney leaned down and put her hands over her eyes. "Peek-a-Boo!" she exclaimed, grabbing Adana and rubbing her stomach.

"Peekieboo!" Adana giggled and tried to squirm out of her mother's grasp. Sark looked on, smiling from ear to ear.

Sydney loosened her grasp on Adana and hugged her. Adana curled her arms around her mother's neck and kissed her cheek. "Mommy," she said, kissing her mother's other cheek.

Sydney smiled at Adana and kissed her forehead. "I love you", she told her. Pulling away from the hug, Sydney held Adana's hand in her own, smiling to herself as mentally traced every part of her daughter's hand. It looked exactly like her own hands.

She was almost two years old; she would celebrate her birthday in three and a half months. Sydney was proud of Adana but at the same time felt a rush of melancholy burst through her veins and rush throughout her entire being, thinking of how Adana had to be kept a secret from the world. Sydney wanted more than anything to tell her father about Adana but she knew she couldn't. It wasn't that so much that she didn't trust her father, but more that she and Sark had agreed that it would be safest if no one knew about Adana.

She picked Adana up into her arms and walked towards Adana's bedroom. "Has she had breakfast?" Sydney asked Sark, who followed Sydney into their daughter's room.

Sark didn't say anything but gestured towards an apron splayed across Adana's high chair. Sydney laughed when she noticed most of Adana's breakfast scattered across the apron. "I think the appropriate phrase should be 'has she swallowed anything,'" Sark told her.

Sydney placed Adana in her high chair and grabbed the half-finished bowl of baby food that Sark had prepared. Sydney smiled to herself when she remembered an argument she and Sark had about Adana's feeding habits. Sark had become quite the father figure, pouring over child development journals. He even joked that he would abduct famous child psychologists and make them tell him how to deal with all of Adana's habits.

Sydney sighed, thinking of how Sark had decided that when it came to his daughter, fresh food was best. She wondered what Sark must look like, cooking Adana's food in the kitchen, mixing her milk, balancing every aspect of Adana's life while Sydney was gone. She felt sad just thinking about all the things Sark and Adana did without her.

"She can walk around the house by herself now," Sark said, moving behind her to place his arms around Sydney's waist. "You're cold," he told her, his breath inches away from her hair as he rested his chin on the top of her head. She felt shivers run up and down her spine. Sark must have felt it too, because he snuggled into her, letting Sydney's back warm up from Sark's jumper. "I made a tape of her walking for you."

Sydney closed her eyes and didn't say anything. She wondered what it would be like if she was with Vaughn instead. She had wanted so much to be with Vaughn, but ever since Lauren she felt as if she was Vaughn's second-hand prize. She didn't want to be anyone's left over prize, and there was a comfort, a bond she found in Sark that she knew she couldn't share with Vaughn.

She couldn't have possibly imagined that she'd be in this position with Sark. This situation was making her vulnerable, she knew it. She had refused to go on missions where she knew the risk of being made was very high. She wasn't thinking about herself now, or her missing two years, or of Vaughn, but of Adana. The whole focus of her world had shifted into the form of a small child with dazzling blue eyes and a large, cheerful smile.

Sydney slowly put a spoon with some of Sark's mysteriously delicious baby food to Adana's mouth, and she graciously accepted it. Chewing hungrily on the food, Adana flashed Sydney a gigantic smile, showing off the dimples she inherited from her mother.

"Now that is just not fair," Sark told Sydney. "Why does she always eat from you? You like daddy more, don't you?" Sark kissed Adana's nose. "Yes you dooo…" Sark kissed her nose again and she giggled. Sark stood up and looked at Sydney, who was getting ready to give Adana another spoonful. Just then his phone rang, and he picked it up. He didn't say anything into the phone, and Sydney wondered what he was keeping from her. She looked at him questioningly; they had a deal that they would not keep anything from each other regarding the Covenant, but Sydney had already broken her promise to him and she knew that it was only a matter of time before he would too.

Sark turned his phone off and walked out of the room. "I'm going to be in the study if you need me," he told her as he closed the door behind him.

Sydney simply nodded and turned her attention to her daughter.

- - -

Sark rolled the blinds so that no one could see what was happening in the living room from outside. He grabbed two wine glasses and poured some wine into each, carefully handing Sydney a glass.

She graciously took it into her hand and sipped on it. She moved her hand to the remote control and turned off the home movies Sark had made of Adana.

"How long are you here for this time?"

"A couple of days," she told him.

"She really misses you when you're gone." Sark put his glass on the coffee table and looked directly at Sydney.

"I know," she told him in almost inaudibly. "But there's nothing that I can do. The CIA will get suspicious."

"Is Jack suspicious?" Sark looked at his wine.

"If you had family you'd know what it's like."

"I have you."

Sydney turned to look at Sark at the same instant he looked at her. Their eyes met for only a brief second but Sydney sensed that this was the first time in his life that Sark felt he belonged somewhere, and although it wasn't the most ideal situation for either of them the love they both had for Adana had changed things.

Sark's phone rang again, and he picked it up quickly. "Yes?" He answered. Sydney watched him closely, trying to read his facial expressions, but he gave nothing away. "…I understand… Yes, I will." He turned his phone off and took a deep breath. He moved across the living room and sat next to Sydney, looking at her. Taking a deep breath, he spoke calmly, precisely, as if every word was measured so as to lessen the impact of what he had to tell her. "The Association… I'm assuming you've been briefed about them."

"Yes," she said worriedly, thinking the worst.

"My contact with the Association, Mr Duvall, has alerted me to an important matter regarding Adana."

Sydney looked at him questioningly.

"The phone call I received this morning… The Association infiltrated the Covenant last night, hours after you left Los Angeles. They extracted the scientists who had been working in Patagonia. The Covenant was holding them in prison-like conditions." Sark looked at Sydney, a look of regret on his face. "Syd… they talked. My contact has just informed me that The Association knows about Adana."

Sydney felt a lump form in her throat. "What… do you they know where she is?"

"No, but we should get moving. If they put all their agents on it they'll find us in hours."

Sydney nodded and got up, walking towards Adana's room. Sark walked quickly behind her, grabbing a suitcase from Adana's cupboard and placing some of her clothes and food in the bag. "Let's go," he told her.

"Wait," Sydney said, grabbing a large figure of St Aiden near her daughter's crib. "It's her favourite." Sydney looked around the room, making sure there was nothing important left.

She turned to Sark. "Do you have a plan?" Sydney asked as she wrapped Adana's sleeping body in a blanket and scooped her up in her arms. Adana opened her mouth, sighing, and fell asleep again.

"We'll take the car to an open field not far from here, where a plane will take us to Rome. We'll then go to Glasgow." Sark grabbed his keys and realised that Sydney was still staring at him. He walked up to her and stroked Adana's hair and kissed Sydney's forehead softly. "We'll be safe there. I'll keep us safe. I promise."

Sydney nodded and together they walked briskly out of the house, running towards the car. They didn't bother locking the door behind them.

- - -

Sydney stepped off the platform of the plane, Sark right behind her. It would be some three hours until dawn in this picturesque city. The Rome wind was cold, and Sydney cuddled Adana up underneath her jacket, hoping she wouldn't wake up.

She looked around at their surroundings. "Where's the car?" She asked Sark.

Sark looked around, trying to measuring his environment. "Over there!" he shouted above the roar of the wind.

He grabbed her hand and ran towards the vehicle. Sark reached the car first and opened the door, motioning for Sydney to get inside. She scrambled into the car seat, looking to make sure no one was watching them as she closed the door.

The driver started the engine and the car sped towards the plane.

"What the…?" She said, looking at Sark in panic.

Sark tried to unlock the passenger door but something was jamming it. Sydney grabbed Adana's baby bag, taking out of it the St Aiden figurine. Sark took it, glancing at Sydney. She nodded in acknowledgement. She tightened her grasp on Adana, making sure she was secure underneath the jacket. Adana woke up screaming and crying.

"It's okay sweetheart, it's okay… shhhhh," Sydney tried to console her.

Without thinking, Sark slammed the figurine against the window, his arm flying out with small pieces of glass. A large piece of glass stabbed his hand, but he didn't care. As blood shot out of his hands he opened the door from the outside.

Sydney grabbed Adana's bag and rummaged through it, throwing away the food that was inside. She nestled Adana in between the clothing.

"I'm scared mommy," Adana told her.

Sydney kissed Adana's hand. "I love you more than anything sweetie, you'll be okay, go back to sleep, it's okay…"

Sark jumped out of the car, and Sydney slid the bag – with Adana inside – towards him. He grabbed Adana as Sydney jumped out of the speeding car.

Adana was crying non-stop now, barely able to catch her breath. Sark freed her from the baby bag and picked her up. Sydney ran towards them, pointing to the plane.

They ran towards it.

"We're being ambushed!" Sark yelled, spotting a group of five people running towards them.

Sydney and Sark ran up the stairs to the entrance of the plane. The group of people opened fire.

Dodging the rain of bullets Sark and Sydney made their way into the plane. Sark sighed in relief, putting Adana down, and ran towards the pilot's door. Sydney started to close the plane door.

"Peekieboo!" Adana yelled, unaware of the situation. All she could think about was the smashed St Aiden figurine. Without thinking, she ran towards it.

"Adana, no!" Sydney yelled, braving the bullets to run after her daughter, but it was too late.

Adana leaned down on the ground, her tiny hand trying to pick up her beloved statue. A bullet made its way across the airstrip, past the car and into Adana's small body. Sydney watched as her daughter cried out, falling to the floor. She started to run towards her again but another bullet hit Sydney's leg. She fell to the ground, watching, unable to do anything as one of the armed men grabbed Adana's body off the ground and shot towards Sydney.

The man held Adana's body close to his own. Sydney screamed as she saw his face, but couldn't run after him. She tried to slide across the floor, but it was no use. The black car that she and Sark had entered only minutes ago picked up the man and her daughter. The man shut the door, saying something to the rest of the group. The car sped out of the airport.

Sark ran out of the plane, grabbing Sydney he dragged her up the stairs. He had the same look of sheer pain and hatred etched across his face.

"They wanted Adana," she said, between tears.

Sark held Sydney close, his bloody arm colouring Sydney's face a fierce red. He cupped her face in his hands and looked into her eyes. "I'll find who did this, I'll do whatever it takes," he whispered.

Sydney sobbed harder, trying to catch her breath. He held her close and they both sat there, on the floor of his private jet, sobbing in each other's arms. "I… I… saw his fa-ace," she told Sark.

"Syd? Who was it? Who did this?"

Sydney looked deep into Sark's eyes and tried to find the words, but all she could think of was Adana. After what seemed like an eternity she found her voice. "I…it was… Va-Vaughn," she told Sark inbetween tears.


	6. The Confrontation

**Earthly Posessions: The Confrontation**

Chapter rated R

_18 Months Earlier_

Sydney burst through the door of her father's house. She couldn't believe what she had been through in the last few hours – her daughter had been kidnapped, most likely she was dead. Sydney had begun to trust one of her enemies and worst of all, she'd been shot at by the man she loved. She didn't know who she could turn to but her father. She walked into the lounge room of his selectively decorated house. Her father was sitting on a dark green couch, talking on the phone.

"Dad, I really need to talk to you."

Her father looked up at her, a look of confusion on his face. "Yes, yes. I'll speak to you later… Goodbye." He put the phone down and stared at her. "Syd? Are you okay?"

Sydney stumbled across the lounge room and sank into a chair.

"What happened to your leg?"

"Dad, I was shot at. I was with Sark and… Dad, Patagonia! I was… I was too late," her words were drowned out by sobs. "They did it… Sark and I… our daughter… Adana…"

"Slow down, Sydney. What happened?"

"Our daughter… she was taken… I don't know if she's dead…"

Her father moved so that he was sitting beside her and hugged her. She was sobbing freely now, her tears sinking into her father's shirt. Although she knew she should be looking for Vaughn, torturing him for information… she wanted to torture him so much, to make him _pay_ for what he did, she knew she couldn't. It would reveal too much and she couldn't let the CIA know about Adana.

She and Sark had gone back to the US. He had left to find his contacts within the Association in an attempt to find out what happened and she had gone straight to her father. She hadn't bothered to change, she was still wearing the same clothes she had when she lost Adana. Her pants were still bloody from the wound, the blood only blocked by gauze Sark had used from the first aid kit on his plane.

Jack leaned across his daughter's trembling body and kissed the top of her head. He pulled apart, slowly, stroking her hair. "It's okay," he whispered to her. "You should've told me."

Just then Sydney heard the sound of a toilet flushing.

"So, Jack, about the meeting…" Vaughn said, walking into the living room, unaware of Sydney's presence.

Sydney teared herself away from her father's embrace and stared up at Vaughn, greeting him with a look of utmost contempt and despise. "You!" she cried out, trying to get up from the couch. She tried to walk towards him, but her leg couldn't support her. She fell back into the couch, sinking back into her feeling of desperation and hopelessness. Then, realising that Vaughn was _inside_ her father's house she turned to her father, "you… what did you do? How could you betray me?"

"Sydney." Vaughn stopped dead in his tracks and stared at her, as if he was looking at a ghost. His eyes wondered across her body. His eyes made their way down to her wounded leg. "My God, Syd…" he gasped, running over to her and taking her leg in his hands, as if he were about to examine the wound.

But Sydney couldn't understand why he was being the way he was. He tried to help her sit properly on the couch. Sydney felt so insulted that she pushed him away, watching him fall on the cream-coloured carpet.

"How could you do this!" She stared at him, her eyes never leaving his.

Vaughn opened his mouth to explain, but Jack cut him off. "You honestly didn't think I wouldn't find out, did you?"

Sydney's gaze shifted from Vaughn to her father.

"What Jack is trying to say, Syd… we got intel from Duvall before Sark got it. We knew the Association would want Adana…" Vaughn's explanation fell on deaf ears. "Syd, you have to believe me, it killed me to shoot at you, but you couldn't come after us… I wouldn't let them hurt you."

"No, you killed my daughter instead," Sydney spat out.

Sydney looked at her father, her beautiful brown eyes now bulging red from the hours she had spent crying. She felt as if she had no more tears to cry, and at the same time she felt guilty for not crying. She needed an outlet, somehow, she needed someone to blame for Adana's death. Sydney was sure her daughter was dead, she remembered waiting in agony to see her daughter's small stomach move up and down to take a breath, for any signs of life, but she had seen none before Vaughn picked her up.

"We were protecting you, Sydney. Vaughn joined the Association four months ago. No one at the CIA knows. No one knew except Vaughn and I… until now. I trust you will keep this quiet."

Sydney stared at her father, not knowing whether to be repulsed or relieved. Why wouldn't they tell her anything about Adana? Why was she being treated as if the last few hours weren't spent dodging bullets and crying in Sark's arms, but walking in a park, looking at ponds? She looked from Jack to Vaughn, but their faces were perfectly still. They were giving nothing away. Finally, her voice broke through the silence and made its way towards Vaughn. "Is she dead?"

"Syd… I'm so sorry. She was barely breathing when I picked her up. I don't know what they did with her. Our orders were to use all necessary force."

Sydney felt her face wrinkle and tears started to flow down her face once more. Her face turned an angry shade of red and she looked up at Vaughn, barely seeing him through her veil of tears. "Do you have my daughter? Do you know where she is?" She couldn't bring herself to ask about Adana's body. Saying that would be admitting that she was gone, and Sydney would never forgive herself for not protecting her.

"They took her from me as soon as we left the airp–" Vaughn's sentence was cut off by Jack's ringing phone.

Jack picked it up, spoke inaudibly and slowly put the phone back on its stand. "The CIA has just received some intel." Vaughn and Sydney didn't say anything.

"I'll bring the car around," Jack said, walking out of the room.

Sydney tried to get up using the walking stick she had bought off a small mixed business store in downtown Los Angeles, but it was no use. Vaughn moved so that he could help her.

"Syd, I didn't get a chance to tell you this but… I wanted to tell you I was undercover. I was ordered not to."

Sydney didn't say anything, but the look on her face spoke a thousand words.

"When we were at the airport, another group was there. Take a look at the satellite footage if you want. Syd, another group opened fire on us. I don't know who but I couldn't risk you chasing after us… all I could think about was protecting you." Then, realising that he had put her in a vulnerable position with Sark, he continued, "were you okay? Did he hurt you at all?"

Jack honked his car, signalling for them to hurry up.

With one big heave Sydney sat up. She looked at Vaughn and spoke quietly, precisely. "Sark wouldn't shoot at me. He knows a broken leg won't stop me from chasing the bastards that took our daughter away." With that, she slowly walked out of the living room of her father's apartment and towards his car.

Jack walked briskly behind Sydney as the CIA meeting finished.

"Sydney," he told her, pulling her aside. "I couldn't say this because Vaughn was at my house but I want you to watch your back when you're with him."

"Dad? Why? You said yourself, he was undercover."

"Mr Vaughn was uncharacteristically enthusiastic to take this undercover position. I'm questioning his loyalties and it would help if you did, too. He has an endgame, that much I know."

"What should I do?"

"I need you to swallow up your pride and get close to him again."

Sydney nodded. Although the last thing she wanted to do was work, she knew that it would bring her closer to finding Adana. She knew she couldn't sit around at her house, mourning over her loss. Something had to be done.

_Present Day                       _

Sydney smiled, closing the door after Weiss. She sighed to herself, thinking her get together with Weiss, Marshall and Carrie had gone well. But all throughout dinner her thoughts kept wondering back to the small box hidden inside her cupboard.

Ballerina shoes. Sark had sent her ballerina shoes.

Years ago they had spoken about the things they wanted their daughter to do. They wanted her to extend herself in sports; to learn how to protect herself, but they wanted her to become graceful, too. They didn't want to put her in the spy game; far from it. Sark had once opened up the possibility of sending her to a boarding school but they had dismissed that option because it meant they wouldn't always be able to see her.

Sydney felt her heart twinge with pain as she remembered the way Sark use to read to their daughter bedtime stories. His voice would move up and down, signifying different characters, and Adana would always giggle when he spoke as if he were a woman, complete with batting eyelashes and wigs.

Sydney took her cordless phone and walked towards the cupboard. Her hands moved across the ballerina shoes, she started to smell them. They smelt like talcum powder and Sydney wondered how many times they'd been used.

What hurt her most about her loss was that there was no photographic evidence that Adana had ever existed. All the home movies that she and Sark had taken with Adana were locked up in a safety deposit box in a bank. She knew that the Association was following her movements, and the CIA too would grow suspicious if either she or Sark were to access the contents of that box. She didn't want to admit it but Adana was starting to become a fading memory.

Sydney often wondered what her daughter looked like now. How would she behave? Would she still smile at everyone she saw? Did she still like to hear stories? Sometimes, when she knew she wasn't needed for a mission, Sydney would lock her doors and pull the blinds down on her windows. She'd play Mozart, remembering how Adana had learned to hum Sydney's favourite symphony.

She'd spray talcum powder around her room and close her eyes, leaning her head against a pillow and holding another her hands, imagining that Adana was still in the room, sleeping peacefully.

Adana would be celebrating her fourth birthday soon, Sydney thought, wiping the emerging tears from her eyes. She had celebrated her daughter's third birthday privately with Sark. He had brought a small cake and intel, she, her father and a bottle of wine. They had exchanged niceties while reading the files that Sark had brought with him. Sydney hoped that the ballerina shoes meant Sark had found their daughter but she also knew she shouldn't put too much faith in the situation. Faith could be a dangerous thing, she knew, but it was the only left that she could hang on to.

The phone starting ringing and a man with a British accent picked up. "Good Evening," he spoke into the phone.

Sydney breathed quickly. She was nervous about making this phone call, knowing that whatever it was Sark had to say to her was concrete. "Hi, Violet's florist? I was wondering if I can order a dozen red roses for tomorrow?"

The voice on the end paused. "I'm sorry, you must have called the wrong number, this is Vienna Florist, 1427 Parkway." Sark told her.

"Oh. Thanks anyway," Sydney hung up on the phone. She would meet him tomorrow.

It was midday. Sydney walked hurriedly across the crowded park, ready to meet Sark. She had bought a cappuccino from a starbucks around the corner. Sipping it now it tasted bitter, even after the two sugars she had used. For the first time in a very long time she felt scared and anxious.

She sat on a park bench overlooking pond. Watching the ducks circle in front of her, she turned to see a young blonde man walking towards her. He sat down but didn't look at her.

Sydney spoke first. "The CIA told me they let you go. You're getting better at not telling."

"I'm glad you called," he told her. "I've missed you."

"Did you find her?" Sydney asked hopefully. Then, lowering voice, she spoke softly. "Missed you too."

"She's in a training facility."

Sydney turned to look at him. "What?"

"Similar to Project Christmas."

"You're kidding me." Sydney's feelings of hatred towards the Association swelled up within her. "This is some kind of sick joke."

"The front is a boarding school in the outer suburbs of Boston."

"How did you find her?"

"You don't need to know what I went through for her," Sark told her. He put his hand down so that it was resting near Sydney's knee. "I miss her more than I ever thought I'd miss another human being."

She took his hand in hers and placed it on her lap, still watching the ducks as they waded through the murky waters of the pond. She spoke softly. "I know. I miss her too, so much." Her voice starting shaking.

Sensing Sydney's emotions Sark changed the subject. "They call it Project Sphere. They have hundreds of children there. I have reason to believe all of them are being trained as sleeper agents."

Sydney inhaled. "Where will their loyalties lie?"

"Like any other agent for the Association. No state, no official affiliation, just one small objective after another."

"Do you know how we can extract her?"

"It should be easy. A three-man operation. I trust Jack will join us."

Sydney smiled. "Kicking some Association ass? He wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Right then. Well I'm sure fun will be had by all on the latest Bristow outing." Sark sighed. "But there is one thing you should know. The school is in a small, sleepy town. There isn't much need for security on the outside. They do have one fail-safe mechanism though. If we fail on our mission, if we're not able to bypass their security systems on the outside, the whole place will be set on fire."

Sydney weighed Sark's words carefully, thinking of vulnerable position of the children in the facility. "What type of security system are we talking about?"

"When I went there I noticed something slightly odd about their formation. There are two groups of children. One group, the one our daughter is in, is the group being trained. The other group has already been trained and is acting as security. In a way, it's the most sophisticated security system of all. If we fail to get in and out quietly, we'll be left with no choice but to fight against children."

_17 Months Earlier_

Sydney opened her door, glad the doorbell had stopped ringing incessantly. Since her leg was broken it was difficult for her to move quickly from one room to another. Vaughn stood outside, looking at her.

It was raining outside and Vaughn was wet from head to toe. His face was wrinkled and it looked like he had been crying. She wondered why he looked so disturbed.

"I've been running around, trying to think of what I could say to you to make things right."

"You're all wet," Sydney said, grabbing a jacket that was splayed across a chair next to the door. She carefully put the jacket to his face, trying to get rid of the wetness.

"Sometimes I think I don't deserve you."

"What is that you want to say?" Sydney hobbled towards a chair.

"Syd, I… I care about you so much, you know that? I love you more than words can say, I really do…. I… I don't know what got into me at the airport, just seeing you with Sark, I… realised what it must've been like, to see me with Lauren and although I know you're too good for me I wanted to let you know that I uh… that I miss you, and I'm sorry. I'm sorry for shooting you two weeks ago and I'm just…" He stopped short, as if the words had escaped him.

He walked closer to Sydney, was sitting down on the chair, looking up at him with her poignant, sad brown eyes. He put his hands around her, holding her close, and looked deeply into her eyes. "What I'm trying to say is… please forgive me."

"Why do you have to be so beautiful?" Sydney asked. Remembering what her father had told her, Sydney rubbed her face against Vaughn's stomach. She needed to find out what his endgame was.

Sydney took a deep breath and spoke. "I've felt so lonely these past couple of weeks, with Adana and… I miss what we had. I wanted so much to just call you, to tell you that I needed to talk to you, but sometimes, when I catch your eye at the office, it's like you're a completely different person. I wonder if you still care and… I'm not going to pretend that I don't still care about you, Vaughn, I do, I'm never going to stop loving you, but things have changed and, these circumstances are beyond our control." She paused. "Thank you for coming here, but I think you've made a mistake."

Vaughn leaned down so that he was face to face with Sydney. "The biggest mistake I made was not looking for you when you disappeared. I loved you so much I almost drunk myself to death but I didn't have the courage to look for you. Instead I hid from everything. I'll never forgive myself for that, and I wish I could've been stronger, that I'd hung on to our love, that I'd had faith."

Vaughn took Sydney's hand in his and she held him close. "Come with me," he told her.

Curious, she nodded. He picked her up in his arms, making sure he was holding her tight. She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled up at him.

"I think I've found something better than crutches," she told him. "Can I just get you to carry me everywhere from now on?"

Vaughn smiled, kissing her forehead softly. He walked towards her bedroom. Opening the door of her bedroom, he laid her softly on her double-sized bed, making sure her wounded leg was comfortable, and showered her face with gentle, tender kisses.

He moved his hands underneath Sydney's shirt, pulling it up over her head. His hands made their way across her firm stomach and underneath her back. Sending shivers up her spine, his hands travelled up across her back, fumbling for a minute, and then quickly unstrapped her bra.

He held her close, kissing her hair tenderly and whispering sweet nothings into her ear, telling her how much she meant to him and how much he loved her. After what felt like an eternity he rolled over, moving so that he was no longer inside her, and held her close.

She leaned over him, her arm dangled across his chest, and kissed him softly. Closing her eyes, she fell asleep in his arms and he held her close, watching her as she peacefully slept.

Sydney awoke with a start, hearing a ringing noise. She rubbed her eyes and yawned, trying to figure out where she was. Thinking the noise was coming from her phone she leaned over her bed, but it wasn't.

She heard the shower running then, and remembered the night she had spent with Vaughn. She leaned over the other side of her bed, fishing his phone from the floor.

"Vaughn? Someone's calling," she yelled out, but Vaughn was singing too loudly in the shower to hear her. She smiled to herself when she heard the chorus to one of his favourite daggy 80s songs.

She put his phone on the table, watching as a new text message arrived saying he had a new voice mail message. The number on the message seemed eerily familiar to her.

She stared at the phone, wondering if she should listen to the message. She trusted Vaughn, but she trusted her father, and Jack had told her Vaughn was up to something. Deciding that it was better to know, she picked up the small phone and listened to the voice mail.

Sydney watched as Vaughn walked into her bedroom, towel drying his hair. He was still singing to himself and had a sweet, goofy smile on his face.

"Good morning," Sydney told him, leaning over her bed.

He looked up to see her and stopped dead in his tracks. The towel fell to the floor.

Sydney sat uprightly on her bed, holding a gun between her fingers.

"I don't know what you're up to," Sydney said, staring angrily at Vaughn. "But if you don't start explaining to me in the next five seconds why exactly my mother is calling your private number, I'm going to shoot you."

Vaughn took a step forward. "Syd, don't be ridiculous."

Sydney cocked the gun. "Five."

Vaughn continued to look at her, unsure of exactly what to say.

"Four."

"I… uh… Irina…"

"Three."

"Syd, come on now…"

"Two."

Vaughn didn't say anything. He just stared at Sydney blankly, as if he had no idea what to say, and at the same time he didn't _want_ to say anything.

"One."

Reluctantly, Sydney felt her fingers squeeze the trigger on her gun. Her heart broke as she watched the bullet fly out of her small berretta and shoot towards Vaughn.


	7. The Ritual

**Earthly Posessions: The Ritual**

Chapter rated PG-13

_17 Months Earlier…_

Vaughn ran away from the bullet; dodging it. Jumping on the bed he reached for the gun, but it was too late. Sydney arched her back and used her unwounded leg to press against his chest, pushing off her bed. Vaughn's body flew towards the wall. Groaning in pain as he hit the cream-coloured wall, he slumped against it.

Sydney stared at him menacingly, watching him as he gathered himself from the fall.

"Syd, you're making a big mistake," Vaughn warned her.

She fired a warning shot towards him, missing his head by inches. "My mother, Vaughn? My _mother_?"

"Will you just calm down for a minute?" Vaughn's voice had an urgent tone to it, and Sydney couldn't help but sit up straight in her bed and stare at him.

"I really want to tell you, but it's for your protection."

"My what?"

"I can't tell you… Syd, you have to trust me."

He walked over to her, opening his arms as if he were about to hold her. She dropped her gun and placed her arms around his.

Sydney took his arms in hers and pulled him onto the bed. Vaughn grabbed her leg, trying to stop her from moving, but she leapt off the bed using her arms, arching her back she took a deep, hard breath and kicked him, her leg hitting his chin.

Vaughn cried out again and fell back on the bed. Sydney extended her long, lean leg and placed it across Vaughn's stomach. Straddling him, she punched his face, watching as his head fell back on the soft mattress.

She leaned over him, grabbing a pair of handcuffs from the middle drawer of her nightstand and cuffed him to the side of her bed.

"What the…" Vaughn moaned

Scooping the gun off the floor, she took it in her hand and pressed it firmly against his left temple. "Tell me who you're working for," she told him in a threatening tone. "Tell me or I swear I will kill you Vaughn."

_Present Day_

"Sydney."

Sark looked up from his desk. He had been busy writing something when Sydney had broken into his apartment and entered his study.

Sydney looked around the room, thinking that it was well decorated for an apartment Sark would only live in for a few weeks.

She watched as he put his pen down, pushed his chair back and walked towards her. She embraced him and kissed his cheek.

"I couldn't sleep," she confided in him. Curious to see what he was writing, she let her hand linger down to his arm. She slowly moved towards his desk, sitting in his chair. Sark obviously had other things on his mind because he didn't notice her peeking at the piece of paper as he sat down in front of her.

She took the pen from his desk and started playing with it.

"Would you like to stay here tonight?" Sark asked her. Then, remembering what their arrangement had been in Turkey, and all of the events that had occurred in the past two years, he added, "I'll take the couch."

"Vaughn's expecting me tonight," she replied.

"Oh, a dinner date. How charming." Sark smiled at her, his grin seeping with sarcasm.

"I want to see the surveillance pictures you took of the facility," she told Sark, putting her legs up on his desk and sinking further into his chair.

Sark grabbed a file from his desk and threw it at Sydney. "They've got some security cameras on the corners of the building, a security guard and a lovely bulldog named Barney."

"Barney? Are you sure this is an Association facility?"

"Sydney, trust me. They've done an excellent job in keeping up appearances. The whole town thinks it's a boarding school. The kids have a debating competition Thursday night. Would you like to accompany me?"

Sydney peeled open the closed envelope Sark had given her. "They know what we look like," she reminded him, browsing the grainy black-and-white pictures.

There she was. Her daughter, walking in a straight line with other children, all around her age. She was wearing a short blue skirt, a white blouse and holding books in her hand. Sydney flipped through the pictures, seeing her daughter practicing judo on the school's main lawn.

A tear slipped down her cheek as she started remembering all the days she had spent without her daughter. What would her daughter have been like, she wondered, if she had stayed with her parents? How would things have worked out if the Association had never taken Adana?

Sark came up to Sydney and kissed her tears away. Sydney wasn't expecting this sudden burst of affection and she pulled away slowly.

"I have to go," she told him. "Vaughn's expecting me."

Sark withdrew from his embrace, but still held Sydney's hand in his. "Sydney… it's fairly obvious now you have been less than forward with me on the matter of Agent Vaughn."

"I told you, I don't know who he's working for." She pushed against the chair and stood up.

"Your father sent me these." Sark tossed Sydney another envelope and walked out of the room, obviously disappointed that Sydney's loyalty remained with Vaughn. "I trust you can let yourself out," he told her as he walked away.

17 Months Earlier 

Sydney stood in the lounge room of her father's house, watching him as he ended a phone call with Vaughn.

Her father finished his conversation and handed her a cup of coffee. "You're fortunate that Vaughn loves you. It allows him to see past your blunders." He grabbed his jacket from the sofa and put it on.

"Dad, he was talking to Mom. She called him!"

"Sydney, we've been over this. He's undercover."

"What did Mom say? Did you contact her?"

"She told me that she's protecting you."

"That's what Vaughn said," Sydney told her father. She spoke in an elevated tone. "But I don't trust him, not even for a second."

"Sydney, I trust your judgement but even Irina doesn't know what Vaughn's up to." Jack grabbed a tie from where his coat was and started to loop the black silk. "She's been helping him infiltrate the Association, that much I know."

Sydney stared at her father, unsure of what to say. Finally, she took her father's tie in her hands and knotted the material in place. "Dad, is Mom Association? Is she one of them?"

Jack didn't say anything. He stood in front of a small mirror in the hallway, straightening up his tie.

"In the phone call, mom said something about Project Sphere. Do you know what it is? Can you tell me anything?" Moving so that she was standing right in behind him, she looked into his eyes through the mirror and straightened up his tie. She took her hand and placed it just underneath his shoulder, turning slightly so that he was looking straight into her eyes. "Please?"

Jack turned away and walked towards the door. "I have to go to a meeting. We doesn't know where your… Adana… is. End of discussion," Jack told her.

Present Day 

Sydney and Sark made their way through the dense forest surrounding the Association's training facility. Hiding behind a shrub, Sark took out his binoculars. Sydney did the same, watching as limousines, Porches and the occasional Chevy made their way through the entrance of the exclusive school. Women and men, dressed in cocktail dresses and tuxedos, waved and smiled at each other as they walked into the main building.

The building itself was old and made of a light-coloured, almost grey, stone. Although it was a private boarding it didn't seem to have employed a gardener as various plants had creeped their way up across the stonewalls. Near the North-East corner of the building stood a bell tower; the bell itself stood proudly. It was ringing and Sydney realised that this wasn't just a weekly debating competition, it was something of an event.

"Ridgeway Academy," Sark said.

Sydney drew in a deep breath of the cold country air. "If it wasn't Association it almost seems like a place we'd hide Adana."

"Maybe that's what they were counting on," Sark told her. Sydney hesitantly smiled, wondering if he was joking or if there was something more significant behind his comment.

"How are we going to get inside?" Sydney looked at Sark. "All these people… where are the vulnerabilities?"

Sark took out a small, neatly wrapped package from his bag. Sydney watched as he slowly and carefully unwrapped it. He placed it on the ground. "Here, Barney, Barney," he called out into the blackness.

Out of nowhere a large, fierce looking bulldog ran towards Sark, barking. Sark pushed the piece of T-bone steak towards Barney, who barked again, this time in appreciation, and proceeded to wolf it down.

"We'll watch Adana debate through the air vents," Sark said. He leaned over, towards a small rose bush and plucked a large red rose. "For you." He placed the soft, fragrant rose petals underneath Sydney's nose. She took a deep breath, feeling the aroma of the rose waft through the air and up into her.

"To counteract the smell of meat," Sark said softly.

Sydney chuckled, thinking that Sark had ruined a perfectly romantic moment. She hit the side of his face softly. The simple thought that they were days away from having Adana back in their arms had made them the happiest they'd been in a long time.

He smiled at her and pointed to the control room, a small shack near the edge of the building. Nodding, she scurried behind him, towards Ridgeway Academy.

"She's so beautiful," Sydney said softly, watching Adana through the small holes cut out of the air vent.

"Is it her turn yet?" Sark asked, setting up the small computer.

"No, she's the second speaker." Sydney grabbed her binoculars and stared at her daughter. "Did you ever do public speaking?"

"I was more interested in sports." Sark took a small wire and attached it to the computer. Setting the wire towards the holes on the air vent, Sydney saw a bigger, better image of the event downstairs on Sark's monitor.

"Thanks." She huddled close to him.

They sat there for almost twenty minutes, looking at Adana through Sark's monitor, staring at their daughter. Adana had this way of sitting perfectly still in her seat, a considerable achievement for a four-year-old. Sydney and Sark watched as Adana stood up in her turn and argued precisely, her words weighed by the logic of argument and the persuasiveness of emotion.

As Sydney observed her daughter she wondered if she had lost her childhood, much in the same way that Sydney had lost hers. Adana didn't seem like a child, even though there she was, a young girl, a short person, looking like a child.

"Sark," she said, placing her hand on the back of his neck.

"Mmm?"

"Do you ever think… maybe the Association is doing a good job? Think about it, she's got a stable life, she's learning… it's got to be better than what we would have done." A look of regret was engraved on Sydney's face.

Sark turned in the air vent, grunting as the tight squeeze prevented his movement. "I can't believe I'm hearing this," his voice was filled with amusement. "From Sydney Bristow, of all people."

"It's just a moment of weakness," Sydney said firmly, dismissing his implications. "I'm just glad they didn't hurt her."

Sark turned to look at the monitor again and Sydney pressed her ear against the hole in the air vent, closing her eyes and listening to her daughter's soft, flowing voice as she reviewed her argument.

"Syd, take a look at this," Sark spoke in a concerned tone. He rotated the monitor so that Sydney had a clearer view and zoomed in on the badge that Adana's fellow classmate, the first speaker, was wearing. "It's a red ball. Where have we seen that before?"

"The circumference," Sydney said under her breath. "What… what are they doing? How do they know about that?"

"Khasinau was experimenting with it, yes? Maybe his experiments progressed more than we initially thought."

"That doesn't make any sense," she told Sark, moving the camera to look at the badges the other children were wearing. "Not all of them have it, see?"

Sark hurriedly moved the camera on the wire to try and see if Adana was wearing it but she had already concluded her argument and was now walking, with her back towards the camera, back to her seat. Taking a seat, Adana took a glass of water, sipped it, and placed it in front of her, obstructing the camera from seeing what she was wearing.

"I can't tell if she's wearing it," he sighed in frustration.

Sydney stared at Adana for the next half hour, never taking her eyes off her daughter as she listened to the other speaker's arguments. Finally, when it was over, she felt Sark take his hands in hers.

Together they watched as Madam Chair walked up to the centre of the stage. The crowd put their hands together once more for the children, all of them had delighted smiles plastered across their faces.

Sydney and Sark watched as both teams stood up to receive their awards.

"Do you think she remembers us?" Sark asked Sydney, watching as Adana grabbed her small trophy with glee.

"It's been two years, but… I hope so."

"I read somewhere that a child remembers their mother from the way they smell, the touch of their skin. Perhaps she'll remember you."

Sydney blushed, looking from Sark to the monitor. "What's this?"

A man stood up from the first row of the crowd and walked towards the stage. His face was turned away from the air vents, both Sark and Sydney had no idea who he was.

"I'd like to personally thank Ms Poseinas for adjudicating this week's debating competition. I hope to see you all next week for the Championships."

The crowd clapped again.

"And now, Ladies and Gentlemen, shall we start the bidding?

"Bidding?" Sark asked, a sick look on his face.

Sydney shushed him as she listened to the man continue with his speech. "This auction has become something of a tradition at Ridgeway Academy. We pride ourselves in training the finest secret agents." The man walked to the edge of the room and sat down, his back still to Sark's camera, and watched as the Poseinas moved to the microphone.

Sydney and Sark watched, mouths open, as the members of the crowd gathered small placements with numbers on them from what Sydney assumed were teachers of Ridgeway Academy.

Ms Poseinas spoke into the microphone. "Thank you Headmaster," the woman said, nodding towards the man sitting in the chair. "The first speaker for the affirmative team, Peta Forthwell."

Peta, the young girl sitting next to Adana, straightened her skirt and walked towards the dark-skinned woman. "Peta Forthwell is an excellent member of Ridgeway Academy. She excels in judo and mathematics. The winner will have the chance to test her for the weekend. The bidding starts at five hundred."

"$550 000," a man in the crowd said, putting his number up.

"$570 000," a woman replied, staring down the man.

Sydney watched in sick anticipation as the bidding continued. After what seemed like an eternity, the crowd clapped as the woman stood to receive her prize. The young girl walked towards her, having been sold for a little under $700 000 for the weekend.

Poseinas clapped as the girl and the older woman walked away from the room. The girl had a huge smile on her face and Sydney knew that she would be ordered to take puzzles to measure her ability over that weekend.

"Sydney," Sark said loudly, and Sydney broke her gaze from young girl. "She's up," he told her, a tear welling up in his eye. "Perhaps we can move up the extraction to this weekend."

Sydney watched, holding Sark's hands close to hers, as Adana stood to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. Although Sydney heard and understood the commotion downstairs she couldn't help but allow her thoughts to travel to her daughter. Unlike the girl before her, Adana stood perfectly still, her gaze never leaving the back of the room.

The man stood up and walked towards Adana, turning so that he stood behind her.

"Sark?" Sydney said urgently, focusing the camera on the man's face. "I know him, that's–"

"Cuvee," Sark interrupted. Then, turning the wire so that he could look at him directly, he spoke. "Headmaster?"

Sydney watched Cuvee intently as he held Adana in his arms. It was all she could do to prevent herself from attacking him. Cuvee seemed slightly bored of the bidding, as his gaze shifted across the room and up towards the ceiling.

His eyes wondered past the air vent, making their way back towards Adana when he noticed something odd. His gaze shifted back to the air vent, looking intently at the wire hanging from the holes.

He grabbed Adana in his arms. Taking a gun out of his back pocket he shot towards the air vent.

Up inside the air vent, Sydney yelped as the bullet missed Sark by inches. "Run! She told Sark as the bullets penetrated the vent. "We've been made."


End file.
